The Assassins of Altis Read Online Free PDF

was coming along beside him, her face grim. She knew he could not cast a spell now without the other Mage knowing and quickly finding him. But with the snow so heavy and the night aiding them, perhaps they would need no more invisibility.
    Alain sensed the Mage coming closer. He or she would be moving with Imperial soldiers, thereby providing a rough picture of where the legionaries were. Then Alain heard the rustling sounds of someone forging through the snow behind them. He dropped, pulling Mari flat as well, and hurriedly brushed snow over her back and his own as best he could, waiting while the snow fell on them.
    Someone blundered past them from behind. Alain did not dare move his head much, but he caught a glimpse of shaggy hair and a shapeless mass of rotting old garments before the barbarian moved on a little more without spotting Alain or Mari.
    Moments later Alain heard noise from in front and saw the glow of torches through the snowfall. “Stay very still,” he murmured to Mari, his lips touching her ear. Already the snow had laid a thin, concealing layer over them both.
    A long line of Imperial soldiers came tramping through the snow, one legionary in five holding a flaring torch aloft and the others with drawn swords. A second line came into view behind them almost immediately, these legionaries bearing crossbows. A yell of alarm sounded and the barbarian Alain had seen earlier came floundering through the snow, trying to make it back to the city. Alain heard the thump of crossbows firing, and the barbarian staggered, standing and swaying for a moment before falling face down in the snow less than a lance length from Alain, a crossbow bolt protruding from his back.
    The Imperial soldiers were close enough together to have made it impossible for someone to get past them without being seen, but there were gaps between each legionary, and the soldiers were searching for foes on their feet, not expecting anyone to be concealed under the snow. Alain watched the legionaries coming, tensing in case he had to act, but the mound of snow forming over him and Mari as the heavy snow continued caused the closest legionaries to veer to either side to avoid the apparent drift. There were cries behind and to the side, then shouted orders. The Imperials broke into a trot, chasing the barbarians back to the city, intent on killing every one that they could. Legionaries searching for fleeing enemies before them paid little attention to the snow beneath as they swept past to either side of Alain and Mari, one so close his foot almost brushed against Alain.
    Alain waited just a little longer, then staggered up, pulling Mari with him. “Now we walk.”
    Her voice was chattering with cold. “Walk? Toward the Imperial watch towers?”
    “Yes. The illusion we wish to create is that we are part of the legionary force. We are hard to see in the darkness and the snow, and we do not resemble the barbarians. Walk as if we belong here, Mari.”
    “You’re the Mage.” Mari walked along with him, trudging through the snow but trying to look like she was in no hurry as she matched Alain’s pace. “Where’s that other one?”
    “Not too far distant. I cannot tell if he seeks me.”
    “Then link arms with me so we look like one of us is supporting the other.”
    Alain did not ask why, putting his arm about her as they struggled through the snow toward the Imperial watch towers and the large fires burning between them.
    The air grew brighter as they neared the Imperial beacons, Mari and Alain aiming between them as if walking toward a watch tower. Behind them, occasional shouts and metal-on-metal clangs told of combat, the barbarians and the Imperials busy with each other. Dim shapes materialized off to their left. “Hey!” someone called from what appeared to be a small group of legionaries. “You guys get nicked?”
    Alain had held his breath at the first hail, but he suddenly understood Mari’s idea. In the limited visibility, the